It is a sore task that God has given to the sons of men with which to occupy themselves.--Kohelet

Monday, December 14, 2015

Is This the Season to Change Your Life

At this time of year, many people are getting ready for the Christmas holiday season. Some people go all out with decorations and food, not to mention the gifts they buy. It can be a time of great happiness. It is also the time of year most associated with depression. Whatever this season usually brings your way, there is something wrong that goes to the very heart of Christmas itself. It's called Christianity.

On its surface, Christianity seems like a perfectly good religion. The fellowship and sense of belonging in the Christian community are a strong component. But it is rooted in some of the biggest lies ever perpetrated on humanity. That's right. For two-thousand years, the church has been telling us that a man named Jesus is the Messiah foretold in the Hebrew scriptures. Unfortunately, this claim does not hold up to scriptural scrutiny. If you are one of the many people who make this claim, I urge you to take some time to reexamine exactly what it is you believe. This is the perfect time to make a change.

There are many contradictions in the Christian Bible. Your pastor won't be able to explain these to you because s/he may not even know they exist. While the church does encourage reading the Bible, they rarely ever give explanations. One of the more popular ways the church encourages to study the Bible is through published Bible Studies. There are some that are better than others, but many of them pull pertinent verses out of the Bible in order to make whatever point they are trying to make. Rarely do they ever look at the Gospels next to each other. The reason for this is that they don't agree with what they claim happened all those years ago. Take, for example how many women went to the tomb and found Jesus was missing? Each gospel recounts a different story of what happened. No amount of explaining will change what the texts actually say. Look it up.

There are serious doubts as to whether or not Jesus even lived. It is implied, and taught by many, that the Gospels are eyewitness accounts of Jesus' life. The fact is that they were written between thirty and fifty years after Jesus' alleged crucifixion. There are quotes of what he said written thirty years after he said them. How does that work? Apply some real world wisdom to this for a minute. Think back to an important event to which you were a witness. Can you remember exactly what everyone said? Can you remember what was said thirty years later? I don't think you can, at least not with the level of accuracy implied by the authors. Now I have a good idea what you are thinking. The holy spirit told them what to write. Let's look at this for a minute. Nowhere in any of these texts does it mention this happening. If you look at any of the prophetic writings in what you call the Old Testament, they always say something like, " the world of the Lord came to me saying...". It would stand to reason that if this is what is happening in the New Testament it would say something similar. Wouldn't it? I get the idea that every time something can't be explained, it is chocked up to the holy spirit. Then, no one can question it. So it solves a lot of problems for Christianity.

There are some things you need to know which I encourage you to ask your pastor about.

Christianity claims that Jesus died for your sin.

Ezekiel 18:20, Psalms 49:7, Jeremiah 31:30 all say that no one may die for the sin of another, but that each one will die for his own sin

Christianity claims that there must be a blood sacrifice for sin.

Isaiah 55: 6-7, Psalms 32:5, 2 Chronicles 7:14, Ezekiel 18:21-22 say that repentance is all that is needed for forgiveness

Christianity claims that Jesus is the Messiah

Jesus did none of the things which the Messiah is prophesied to do

The Messiah will bring about a time of world peace

Jesus said he did not come to bring peace but a sword

There are too many inconsistencies in the New Testament to list here. There are many exhaustive works on this subject available. A simple internet search will reveal this. This is not my purpose. My purpose is to show that there are, in fact, inconsistencies. There is enough here to get you started asking questions. I encourage you to do so.